Lucknow: Days after filing a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against the Uttar Pradesh government for the removal of former Director General of Police (DGP) Mukul Goel, senior IPS officer Vijaya Kumar was on Wednesday appointed as the third acting DGP of the state. declared. one year.
Yogi Adityanath government took the decision after two months assigned charge The DGP was handed over to senior IPS officer RK Vishwakarma, who took over after his predecessor DS Chauhan retired on March 31. Vishwakarma, who retired on Wednesday, put an end to speculation on whether Vishwakarma would get an extension.
Mukul Goyal was kicked out On May 12 last year, on the grounds of “dereliction of official duty,” “lack of interest in departmental work” and “laziness”, the state had its last permanent DGP.
In an order issued on Wednesday, the state government said that Vijaya Kumar, who was holding the post of DG (CB-CID) and DG (Vigilance), has been given the additional charge of DGP till the appointment of a permanent UP police chief.
This decision is being seen as an ‘unprecedented’ step of the former DGP.
‘image’ matters
While Vijay Kumar’s predecessor Vishwakarma served for only two months, the latter’s predecessor Chauhan served for ten and a half months.
Kumar has eight months left in his term and is due to retire on January 31 next year.
The UP government had in September last year sent a list of names of 38 IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for consideration for the post of DGP. However, the UPSC had returned the proposal and questioned Goel’s removal as DGP before completing the minimum tenure of two years prescribed by the Supreme Court.
Official sources told ThePrint that since then the state government has not sent another list of names to the UPSC. He said that the appointment of DGP is the prerogative of the Chief Minister and it should be done keeping in view various factors like best person available, image of the officer etc.
“The UPSC had noted that if Goyal was not relieved of his responsibilities as DGP on the grounds mentioned in the SC order dated September 22, 2006, then his relief from the post would be in violation of the SC direction. UPSC had also asked the government to provide a copy of the removal order if he was relieved on any of the grounds mentioned in that order,” said a senior civil servant with knowledge of the development, requesting anonymity. told ThePrint.
The UPSC had also noted at that time that the state government had dropped the names of some senior IPS officers who were due to retire in January and February 2023. It had asked the UP government to modify the scope of consideration and include the names of all eligible officers.
“The state government had dropped the names of senior IPS officers (now retired) Gopal Meena and Rajendra Pal Singh, who were to retire in January and February 2023 respectively. UPSC had asked the government to send the names of all officers up to the 1992 batch of the IPS state cadre.
On 22 September 2006, the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict prakash singh caseMandating countrywide police reforms, including important directions for a transparent, merit-based process of selection for the post of DGP.
It had also issued directions for provision of a fixed minimum tenure of two years, among other guidelines, for officers selected for the post of DGP.
What does the contempt petition say
In a contempt petition filed in the Supreme Court on May 16, petitioner Krishan Kumar, a resident of UP’s Bulandshahr district, submitted that “the State of UP has terminated Mukul Goyal, the then DGP of UP, before the completion of his two-year term and without conditions”. Completed and removed.” the grounds mentioned by the Supreme Court for such removal”.
It has therefore “deliberately and willfully defied the Supreme Court”, added the petition – seen by ThePrint – which is yet to come up for hearing in the apex court.
The petitioner further states that “after the removal of Goel from the post in May 2022, the state government appointed DS Chauhan as acting DGP, which is again in flagrant violation/contempt of the Supreme Court order which clearly specifies That ‘no state government can appoint an acting DGP’.
The petition further states: “On March 31, 2023, after the retirement of DG Devendra Singh Chauhan, the state government, again in contempt of the SC, appointed DG Rajkumar Vishwakarma as officiating DGP… Besides, the State Government has not yet forwarded the names of senior IPS officers to UPSC as per rules for appointment of DGPs…”.
‘Bad example, lowers the morale of the army’
Anti-corruption activist and retired IPS officer Amitabh Thakur told ThePrint that the move was unprecedented, and alleged that the UP government had not appointed a permanent DGP for “political” reasons.
“The government wants to appoint a DGP of its choice and that choice may not coincide with the UPSC selection. Attempts are being made by the state government to subordinate the DGP to the ruling political party,” he claimed.
Former DGP OP Singh also remarked that the UP government’s decision sets a “very bad precedent”.
“The government should have sent a panel (of names) to UPSC long back. Despite that, a public interest litigation has been filed in the case of the DGP of Punjab and now in UP as well. Being a huge force, this act definitely lowers the morale of the force. DGP is like this parents (mother and father) of force. He is someone who leads from the front,” he told ThePrint.
Prakash Singh, former DGP of UP and Assam and former DG of the Border Security Force (BSF), on whose plea the Supreme Court issued detailed guidelines for the appointment of DGPs, told ThePrint that the problem does not arise only in states. but also in the central paramilitary forces, where the additional charge of DG (BSF) is held by DG (CRPF) Sujoy L. Thousen.
Thoussen is serving as the Director General of CRPF, the largest paramilitary force of the government, while handle too The additional charge of running the BSF, which guards India’s borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan, adds up to over 7,000 km.
“Forces like BSF and CRPF, which have strength of lakhs of officers, are mega forces which require full time leaders and attention. This is very unfair to the officers waiting for promotion and to the forces in general. UP now has acting DGP thrice and here also it needs to be seen why this is happening and its reasons need to be seriously considered.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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